Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Slow cooker oatmeal

I am always looking for something easy for breakfast that is healthy and will stick to with me longer than an hour or two. In fact, I think it's rather inconvenient to eat a healthy meal first thing in the morning! The only easy thing I have found, so far are green smoothies and they are too cold for me with the weather we have been having lately.

That is why I decided to try slow-cooking oatmeal with apples -- a very good combination and if you use old-fashioned oatmeal it is really a healthy breakfast. I based mine on a recipe by Robin Robertson. I changed it to add more apples and garnished it with walnuts and more raisins.

I realized that the photo is not very appetizing because honestly oatmeal is not an exciting color, but by adding cinnamon, raisins and tart apples it does make oatmeal a welcome dish that is ready when you are, first thing in the morning. Smells good while it's cooking, too.

It is important to use a crockpot that has a timer on it because this recipe takes 6 hours on low and 2 hours on the high setting. I think, if you increased the recipe by 1/2 you might be able to cook it for 8 hours on low and I am planning to try that, but I can't guarantee it.

I do think I will try this about once a week because it tastes kind of like oatmeal muffin -- not quite as sweet, but still quite tasty. I used some vanilla almond milk on mine, but I think yogurt would be nice with this oatmeal, too. Other garnishes -- seeds and nuts, ground flax seed, dried fruit, especially cranberries.

Put apples, oatmeal, raisins, cinnamon and salt in a 4 quart slow cooker. Pour water over the top and cook for 6 hours on low, (Oatmeal and apples will be soft and well-cooked.) or cook on high for two hours for a chunky, less smooth oatmeal. Helpful hint: Use a slow-cooker liner for easy clean up.

Cook oatmeal on the stove in a 2/1 ratio liquid to oatmeal. For example,start boiling 1/2 cup apple juice and 1/2 cup water ( or milk, or soymilk). Add raisins from the very beginning. Only after the water has started boiling do you add the 1/2 cup oatmeal. Simmer until the water is absorbed and that's it. Takes only a couple of minutes. Add some butter (optional) and cinnamon. You can add maple syrup, or walnuts. You can add milk. This is my breakfast on most days.

For easy cleanup, put some cold water in the saucepan and let it soak for a little while.